Kemi Badenoch uses her first appearance as Equalities minister to target LGBTQ+ publications, because of course she does

Newly appointed Kemi Badenoch wastes no time tackling the big issues faced by LGBTQ+ Brits, like… er… people who advocate for LGBTQ+ Brits.

 

This week, new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced members of his first cabinet, including Jeremy Hunt, who keeps his role as Chancellor, James Cleverely as Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab as deputy PM, and Kemi Badenoch in a returning role as both Trade and Women & Equalities minister.

 

Following Badenoch’s announcement, many LGBTQ+ Brits used Twitter to share their concerns over her re-appointment in that particular role, specifically pointing to a 2018 audio recording – obtained last year by Vice – in which the Minister for Equalities could reportedly be heard making some worrying anti-trans comments.

Kemi Badenoch
Kemi Badenoch during televised leadership debate | Jonathan Hordle / ITV via Getty Images

Vice World News detailed that the leaked recording included the MP questioning same-sex marriage and asking, “what are transsexuals looking for?”, which would understandably be a bit of a red flag, given her literal job description as Minister for Equalities is “addressing the discrimination and inequalities that LGBT people face”.

 

A reminder again (someone CC Kemi): The word ‘transsexual’ is considered offensive and outdated by many and, as pointed out by Vice in their report, “Misgendering trans women may go against UK equality laws”. 

 

In case you missed it yesterday:

“It’s no longer about minority rights in terms of race any more or nationality,” Badenoch can be heard saying per the Vice report. “it’s now, you know like, it’s not even about sexuality now, it’s now like the whole transgender movement, where, OK well we’ve got gay marriage, and civil partnerships, so what are transsexuals looking for?”

 

Badenoch then says: “Even when, you know, so, people hear about, you know like the whole bathroom thing, it’s actually more of an American thing but they have a similar problem, that, right so now it’s not just about being free to marry who you want, you now want to have men using women’s bathrooms.”

 

It’s alleged that in the recording, ‘the minister also appeared to mock gay marriage, and the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013’, although no exact wording was detailed in the report.

 

Today, in her first public outing as Women & Equalities Minister, rather than address the plethora of issues faced by LGBTQ+ people living in Britain, Badenoch decided to take aim at Benjamin Cohen, CEO of LGBTQ+ news outlet Pink News.

 

 

Cohen had, one day earlier, along with many LGBT+ Brits, shared his concerns over the leaked recording, along with other issues, writing from his personal Twitter account.

 

So why did Badenoch feel the need for that to even be on her agenda, while public trust is at an all-time low and the whole Government has, for months, been falling to pieces?

Well, that’s the question many on social media asked.

 

The Equalities Minister could have tackled the Government’s botched ban on conversion therapy, rising levels of LGBTQ+ hate crime across the country, continued attacks on trans people, the overall deep sense of panic felt by most of the country following unprecedented Government reshuffles and a sinking economy.

 

Some tweets below. 

 

 

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